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Attending events to hear smart people speak only to leave without ever shaking hands or meeting them? Stop it! That is a missed opportunity and I’m going to walk you through a nearly painless way to get a lot more out of these events.
Don’t sweat it if you don’t have a question that you want to ask in front of everyone during the Q & A. I don’t like asking questions in front of large groups and sometimes I don’t have a question to ask.
You still have an opportunity to connect with the speaker. After the talk, go introduce yourself and just share your favorite part of the talk. You can just say, “I’m so and so, and I really loved your talk, especially your point about x.”
The speaker will likely thank you and then add something new to the topic you highlighted or give you more context about why they said what they said. If you’re lucky you may bring up a topic that the speaker has a lot of thoughts about. And generally, since everything they talked about is within their expertise, unless they’re really awkward, the speaker will likely want to tell you more about the subject matter. Keep nodding and engaging in this conversation.
Before you politely step out to make room for the next person, drop your business on the table or ask them for their's. You just networked! Not so bad, right?